News Nuggets September 2011

Volume 58 Number 9

The Albuquerque Gem & Mineral Club meets on the 4^th Monday of the month. All meetings are held at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History, 1801 Mountain Road NW in Old Town, Albuquerque, New Mexico. The entrance is on 18^th Street. The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Sandia Room on the 2^nd floor. There is a short business meeting prior to the evening’s presentation, which begins at approximately 8:00 p.m. The Junior Club meets at 6:30.

We will have 6-8 club members telling us a little bit about how they found their favorite mineral and/or why it’s their favorite. If you want to be a presenter or if you have questions, contact me at jbardal@q.com or 999-9918 by September 25. If you want pictures projected on the screen, send me jpeg images. Each person will talk for a maximum of 5 minutes. We will have a maximum of 8 speakers, so contact me asap to reserve your spot. If you don’t want to present to the group, bring a favorite mineral and talk to others about it during our snack time. Jim Hill will bring one of his microscopes for members to use at the meeting.

As I'm writing this it is mid morning, overcast, and 62 degrees. I love the fall weather in New Mexico, and it lasts so long. It's a great time to get out and do some rock hounding and mineral collecting without baking your brains. The fall season also brings a wealth of nearby gem and mineral shows starting in mid September with the big Denver show and the AGMC booth at the NM state fair, then the first weekend of October is the Roswell club show, mid Nov brings the Mineral Symposium in Socorro with "tailgate" mineral and mining artifacts sales, and finally the first weekend in December is the Los Alamos club show. Yes, I consider the first part of December to still be fall time. And with La Nina setting up like it is we could have one of those falls that lasts until spring.

Speaking of fall mineral events the proposed AGMC fall show got the go ahead for the next phase of development. There was sufficient vendor and club member interest for the board to approve taking a close look at the game plan to see if it makes sense financially. As it stands right now the plan is to have a bare bones/vendors only show, (i.e. no silent auction, junior table, displays, admissions, wolf, raffle, door prizes, etc. etc.) so as to require minimal volunteers from the club population. This means all the income has to come from booth fees. I will be working on seeing if this is possible. Also the board felt that the end of October would be a better time so as not to jam up against other events happening in late November and to better take advantage of our wonderful fall weather. So the proposed date is now the fourth weekend in October and a possible name is "The AGMC HOWL". You know, like Halloween. Oh yeah, in case you missed it, this wouldn't happen until Oct 2012 at the earliest.

The Rocky Mountain Federation of Mineralogical Socities (RMFMS) of which the AGMC is a member is requesting we host their 2012 convention during our March TotE show. They need an AGMC member to be a contact person and help coordinate hotel and meeting rooms for their use. It sounds like a very minimal commitment. If you are interested, contact me. If no one cares to do this we will deny their request.

Of course nothing will happen in 2012 if we don't have a president and treasurer. Someone Else hasn't volunteered yet. To review the responsibilities of these positions go to the club web site www.AGMC.info then click on About the Club and Membership Form then click on Club Constitution and Bylaws where you can scroll down to the guidelines section for details of the board member responsibilities. To repeat what I said last month; being on the board of directors is not as big a deal as it might sound. We meet once a month for 2 hours or less and sometimes skip a month altogether if there aren't any pressing issues. Please consider helping out, this club is extraordinarily successful because people like you became willing to leave their comfort zone long enough to find out it isn't so scary or time consuming after all.

If you want to learn about rocks, minerals, or fossils you have to look at a lot of rocks and minerals and fossils. Visit museums, go to shows, browse rock shops, view personal collections, and go collecting. See you there.

883-4195

el.chivo.viejo@earthlink.net

President Jay Penn called the meeting to President Jay Penn called the meeting to order around 7:36pm.

One first-time guest was introduced to the audience.

Jay notified the membership of the possibility of the club running a fall gem and mineral show. He explained that this show would be run by people other than those helping run the spring show. Also, he explained that the fall show would be dealer orientated and that the booth fees would provide the only income as no admission fee is planned. Jay stated that those club members interested in participating in a fall show should return the questionnaire handed out tonight.

Jay mentioned that he had received an e-mail from Allen Perryman concerning Mr. Perryman’s recovery from serious heart problems. He said he is doing much better now.

Jay announced that he has received information about some lapidary equipment for sale. If any members are interested, they should contact him.

People are still needed to help at the club’s booth during the State Fair. Those interested in helping should contact John Reinert or Bill Barr.

Finishing up, Jay reiterated that candidates for club president and treasurer are still needed.

Grant Kuck said that the Mt. Antero field trip went well with four club members in attendance. Minerals including aquamarine were recovered from the California mine site.

The next field trip will be September 3rd starting at the Grants Uranium Museum at 9:30am. The October field trip is being rescheduled due to the illness of Allen Perryman.

Club Treasurer, Amy Penn, announced she had a National Geographic DVD available for viewing for anyone interested.

The Junior Club reported that 21 members were present tonight. The juniors are very interested in State Fair activities. Also mentioned was that one or two activities per month are being considered. These may include field trips or in-town events. Finally, the juniors are planning TOTE show exhibits and any donations of minerals would be appreciated.

News Nugget editor Bill Barr mentioned that members wishing to add items to the Nuggets may e-mail them to Bill or Earlene.

There was no refreshment chairperson report.

There was no old business.

There was no new business.

The featured speaker tonight was Ramon DeMark. He presented an interesting and comprehensive presentation about the rare and more uncommon minerals found in several mines in New Mexico’s Hansonburg mining district.

After the feature presentation, the meeting was adjourned for refreshments and the evening raffle.

Respectfully submitted,

Bill Hoban, AGMC Secretary

The July 22nd Junior Club meeting was attended by 22 Jr. Club members (yes 22 on the 22^nd). The meeting was devoted to the upcoming 2011 New Mexico Expo – the AGMC display cases, and the Jr. Club entries in the State Fair competitions.

Many of the Jr. members who have competed in years past were asked to bring their entries to show the others who have not participated before what they could enter. Jim Hill brought in one of the display cases, and several of the Rockhounds had to assemble it. Then we set up the display case with the past entries to show how the display might be arranged, and where to place the specimen or collection labels.

While the kids were learning about the State Fair, Earlene was discussing with the parents

about future considerations for Jr. Club field trips and events. We’ve decided Sundays work better than Saturdays, and we planned several events for the upcoming months – the first to paint the clay pots we created back in April using the sketches of petroglyphs we drew in May.

Throughout the meeting we held door prize drawings, and wouldn’t you know it, everyone went home with an amazing mineral specimen!

On Saturday, August 27 nine intrepid Junior Club members and their parents assisted with the Mama’s Minerals Kids Day. They are celebrating the 25th anniversary of their business with special events this year. We helped with flint knapping, geode cracking, splitting shale for trilobites, bead and gemstone jewelry making, and face painting. I estimate there were about 150 or so other kids in attendance at the event and everyone had a great time. All the Juniors got to try each of the stations and keep a geode and a gift bag as did all the participants. Mama’s supplied a hotdog or hamburger lunch with a drink and chips for the Junior workers and their parents (Thank You Mama’s). Thanks to all who participated, Mama’s will invite us back next year!

A GREAT JOB!

Club members Grant Kuck, Loretta Hoyt, and Jane Bardal met trip leaders Jeff and Donna on Friday morning for the slow and bumpy ride up the Mt. Antero road. We set up camp at an elevation of nearly 12,000’. We continued up the narrow road to the California mine. Jeff took Grant over the ridge and down a steep, rocky slope to a beryl outcropping. They returned with 20 lbs. of beryl!

On Saturday we drove up the road to the south knob of Antero. A bulldozer had gone up the road the previous day and excavated an area on the north side of the knob, exposing new ground. This area held out the promise of uncovering a major pocket! We dug in that area for several hours, but found nothing. Jane found a nice phenakite specimen on a smoky quartz crystal in a nearby area on the south knob. The weather was perfect and we had long, sunny days for collecting, with no threats of thunderstorms. Jeff and Donna were wonderful and gracious hosts for the trip. Many thanks to them for taking us up there!

This was perhaps the most unusual field trip I have ever been on. First I didn’t have to get up before dawn to make sure I could reach the meeting spot on time. As a matter of fact it was mid-morning when I and 20 other people gathered outside of the New Mexico Mining Museum in Grants. At 10:00 am we entered the Museum where we paid our admission and met our tour guide. Jack was not only a former uranium miner but he also had donated a number of mineral specimens including the large dinosaur bone by the doorway. And yes it came from deep underground in the mine.

Here is where it starts getting unusual. The first floor is a typical museum focusing on uranium mining in the Grants area. However all that changes after you enter an elevator and ride down one story. The elevator door opens and you are in a uranium mine. But in this mine you don’t need to bring a light, wear a hard hat, or even sturdy boots. And when was the last time you were in a mine and saw a fire sprinkler system?

Jack led us through the mine, talking about the equipment, and paraphernalia along the way.

We passed heavy-duty, impact hammers, mucking machine buckets and ore cars. We walked through tunnels, passed an open stope, and saw a rockface with drill holes just waiting for dynamite. In the lunch room we also learned about an oxygen generating canister called, a "self rescuer" which supplied miners with 20 minutes of oxygen.

With the discovery of uranium in 1950 mining boomed in the Grants area. Eventually though the price of uranium dropped and the mines began to close, with the last one shutting down in January 1990. Over 8 thousand miners lost their livelihood. About four years before the last mine closed, a 1.1 million dollar museum opened in 1986. It is the only uranium mining museum in the world.

After the tour it was lunch time. Some members brought a picnic lunch while others went to a fast food restaurant. The crowd I hung with elected to go to a Mexican Eatery called El Cafecito. Anyway after lunch we met again in the parking lot of the Museum. From there we caravanned out to East Grants Ridge and the collecting area.

Members had a good time searching the ryholite for garnets and topaz. Some people just searched the ground for specimens while others hit the ryholite with a sledge hammer. Both ways proved productive. I found some topaz crystals by banging on some rocks but all the garnets I found were on pieces of ryholite on the ground. Bill Barr found a very nice piece encrusted with red garnets. Other club members also found orange garnets. Jim Hill noted the presence of moonstone and there were numerous pieces of apache tears scattered throughout the area.

We ended the collecting shortly after 4 pm, and those of us who remained headed back to Grants to take in the Cibola Arts & Artifacts Museum. There we encountered a display of Fluorospar in the Grants Area. The exhibit contained a number of beautiful photographs of various mines. One of the photographers turned out to be our very own club member Jane Bardal. Well the Museum closed at 5 effectively ending our adventurous field trip. From there it was time to go home, unpack the specimens, clean the specimens, put them away and then replace all the tools and backpacks in the trunk of our vehicle. After all one always has to be ready for the next rock-hounding trip.

P.S. Keep looking down!

Each fall the New Mexico Geological Society conducts a field conference in a different part of our state that attracts attendees from all over the west including the curious from beginner to expert. No pedigree in the earth sciences is necessary, just an interest in the wonders of our state. The three day event travels a different route each day to explore the geology of the region. A guidebook with detailed road logs and peer reviewed papers is included in the registration fee. Perhaps you’ve seen these guidebooks from past years wherever the NMBMM sets up their publications booth at the TOTE show or maybe at the Symposium in November. I’ve found them to be a wonderful resource for learning to interpret the landscape through its geology. Even better is attending the field part of the conference with boots on the ground, sample in hand and one of the guides who wrote the guidebook expanding on the

landscape around you. Treat yourself to a quantum leap in geoknowledge. The three day affair will headquarter in Espanola, with trips to Taos, El Rito, Rio Vallecito, Ojo Caliente, and La Madera. Subjects such as volcanic and Proterozoic geology, as well as ore deposits, hydrogeology, Santa Fe group fossils and stratigraphy will be covered by this year’s papers. For more detailed information and registration go to nmgs.nmt.edu and follow the link to the fall field conference. Registration began on July 25th and is on a first come first served basis so don’t wait if you’re interested. I attended the conference last year and might be able to answer questions you have that aren’t addressed on the website.

Rex Nelson will lead the October Field Trip to the Petacta Mining District northwest of Ojo Caliente, NM (approximately 120 miles north of Albuquerque). There are two pegmatite sites, the Globe and Coats mines, which the AGMC last visited in 2007. The adits and shafts are closed but waste piles abound and occasional outcrops exist.

The general lists of minerals to be collected are as follows. Globe Mine: mangano and ferrocolumbite, monazite and muscovite. Coats Mine: manganocolumbite, monazite, fluorite, biotite, spessartine garnet, and apatite or beryl. The usual collecting tools and lots of water will be appropriate with ample paper to wrap specimens. Some shade is available but sunscreen will be needed.

We will gather at La Madera between 9:00 and 9:30 AM at the tee intersection of NM-111 and NM-519. To get to La Madera take US-285 North from Espanola to just north of Ojo

Caliente and exit on NM-111. Continue on NM 111 for about 5 to 6 miles to La Madera. Allow about 2.5 hours for the drive from Albuquerque.

The field trip to the Blanchard Mine will be the Saturday prior to Thanksgiving. We will meet at 9:00 a.m. on the road adjacent to the rock shop in Bingham (about two hours and 200 miles SE of Albuquerque on US-380) and proceed as a group to the mine. There will no collecting underground but I will give a tour of the Sunshine #3 adit to those who have not had an opportunity to see the underground workings. Those going underground will need a hard hat and lighting.

Passenger cars can make it to the pad but high clearance and/or 4-wheel drive will be required to make it up the hill to the mine. Safety is paramount and long-sleeved shirts, pants, boots and safety glasses are recommended, particularly for children. Children must be closely supervised due to the inherent dangers of mining areas. There are no facilities or water at the mine, so be forewarned. Due to increasing concern over liability, there will be no underground collecting this year.

You will need hard rock mining tools (hammers, chisels, etc.) to collect at the Blanchard mine. Beautiful specimens of fluorite, galena and barite are readily collectable and uncommon minerals such as linarite, brochantite, wulfenite, cerussite and many other rare minerals can also be found. Be sure to bring a hand lens to look for fascinating micro minerals. See you at Bingham on the 19th of November.

February 1994 News Nuggets

My dictionary defines striations as little lines or furrows, especially when there are lots of fine, parallel ones. In geology there are several genera of striations to be found. Some sedimentary rocks have lines emplaced on the bedding planes by the very currents that deposited them. Fossil shells can have parallel or sub-parallel lines on them. Glaciers can drag pieces of rock across hard bedrock and gouge striations into the surfaces. But the striations I want to discuss are those found on/in minerals.

Even here we have two kinds: those found on the crystal exteriors and those in the interior. Striations found on euhedral crystals are usually caused by competition between two crystal forms that both have a strong tendency to want to form. This is well displayed by quartz. Quartz has a strong tendency to form prismatic sides and rhombohedral terminations (which look like pyramids). Both forms want to be king-of-the-crystal with the rhombs being a bit tougher. The result is prism faces with striations perpendicular to the C axis of the crystal. Careful observation of these striations on the prism faces reveals that each line is a thin sliver of a crystal face and every other one is parallel to the prism direction with the alternates being parallel to the rhomb direction. Striations are found on many, many minerals. Some prominent examples are tourmaline, epidote, brochantite, chalcocite, stibnite, garnet, et hoc genus omne. I want to note here that striations can help to pin down the true crystallography of a mineral and/or help you to find its proper orientation. Remember that I said this is the kind that is found on crystal surfaces. If you break the crystal, there is no internal indication that it had striations on it. This is not true for the other kind of striation.

Striations that are found on cleavage surfaces are caused by polysynthetic twinning. This means that the crystal structure flips between two different orientations which are usually 180o apart and this happened tens to hundreds of times in even a small crystal. The lines show up because of some minor atomic mismatch where a pair of twins meet. Many minerals that show these phenomena also display parting which looks like cleavage but it doesn’t occur on untwined crystals (cleavage is ALWAYS there). The prime example of parting is corundum. Gem corundum is called ruby if it is rich red and sapphire if it is any other color. If there is no twinning/striations/parting, the crystal can be cut and polished into a fine and pricey gem. If it is twinned/striated/ parting-bearing it will not take a polish because little chips will pluck out when you try to polish it. If you ever buy such a crystal to cut you end up just crying a little to a lot (depending on the price you paid for the stone). Other minerals with this kind of striation are hematite, calcite, dolomite, plagioclase feldspar, sphalerite, etc. These striations also help to orient specimens because their orientation is crystallographically controlled. Can this kind of striation also show up on the outside of a crystal? You figure it out! You can ask me at the meeting or drop me a line through the PO box of the club if you really need me to tell you.

Compiled, selected and annotated by Dave Moats, AGMC Historian

Explain what the TotE show is. Aug - Apr. Annual Gem & Mineral Show we host in March. We have dealers with mainly jewelry and mineral specimens to sell to the public set up at the fairgrounds. We advertise for the

customers and run the show.

Write out name tags at the general meetings. Good way to learn names quickly.

Work Phone Tree when needed. (Usually for Mar. & Dec potluck dinners)

Sit in at the Junior classes to listen and learn the basics. 6:30 - 7:15 just before the general meetings.

SPECIFIC MONTHS:

So many jobs: Pick and choose one or two or more for you !

State Fair -Aug./Sept.

Bag rocks for kids give-away, help at set up day at fairgrounds, work a Fri/Sat shift over the 3 weekends, call to remind people of their shift time, get parking passes from the fair and mail to shift workers.

State Fair -Feb./Mar.

Ask for, pick up, then get donated rocks to Walter Morris to tumble so they can be bagged in Aug.. Need 3 full months to tumble.

Science Fair-March

Always need judges - Sci. Fair is usually 3 - 5 hours during the TotE show.

Committee meetings Aug. - Apr., advertising help, postcard party help, getting flyers and postcards ready to print, making signs, gather skirting, tape, contracts printed and edited and mailed to dealers, floor map, show program

TotE - during show: Set up (of tables, skirting, table tops, signs, potluck, kitchen area,

electrical, display cases set up, night time security, daytime, security, run raffle, silent auction, admissions, potluck dinner help includes, setting tables, getting centerpieces, picking up food/drink/ice/donuts/coffee/ lemonade, and the most needed help: TEAR DOWN at end, when we've all had enough !!

Request for donations, pickup donations, sort,clean,prep,label specimens, make auction bid sheets, work at auction table during auction, be an auction announcer. (March auction is at TotE Show) (Nov. auction is in Socorro at Symposium)

Annual Picnic - July

Help decide place, get permission to have picnic at this place, decide potluck or dutch treat, clean up, arrange speaker. If potluck, get cups, drinks, ice, plates, silver, napkins, what the club is supplying, garbage bags, tables, get an article to newsletter on what to bring, who, what, where, when, & how.

The summer before my sophomore year in high school, we moved back to Staten Island. Just a ferryboat trip and a subway ride from the American Museum of Natural History, I renewed my acquaintance with the geological treasures on display, as well as those for sale in the museum store. I still have a great little book on the minerals of the New Jersey Trap Rocks that I bought there.

I loved that museum so much, I started cutting school about a day a month to go up there. Sometimes I went to other places in Manhattan, too – Greenwich Village, Macy’s, bookstores like Brentano’s and the original Barnes & Noble. The one time I got caught, I had actually gone to one of the big branches of the NYC Public Library to do research for a paper; the school guidance counselor tried to read me the riot act, but his heart wasn’t in it!

Another Manhattan destination, mostly on Saturdays, was the slickest "rock shop" anyone ever saw: Astro Minerals, now known as Astro Gallery of Gems. This place was big-time. It

was the first store where I ever saw specimens for sale at prices over $100 (way over!). They were one of the early importers of tanzanite (the owner tried to get it named tanjeloffite after himself), and published a glossy magazine, Mineral Digest, for several years. Even so, I was able to buy small gem crystals and oddities that fit my teenage budget.

Notable New York collecting experiences included hopping a fence to get down to the beach where they were dumping rock excavated from a tunnel under the Narrows. I found wonderful crystals of almandine garnet in biotite schist. Lacking the sophistication that marks my later years, I dug most of them out of the matrix. (Didn’t you ever want to borrow a time machine, go back and smack yourself?) I also sneaked into the old WWI bunkers at Fort Wadsworth and collected some post-construction stalactites hanging from the concrete ceiling. Spooky!

After graduating from Curtis High School, it was off to my birthplace of Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan. The Exhibit Museum there, where I had wandered as a toddler, had and still has a great display of fossil life, including some sweet dioramas. They also had a museum store, which siphoned off money I would otherwise have spent on mere necessities. Better yet, there was a cool store in town, Martin’s World of Gems & Minerals, a very scientific shop with worldwide specimens. (See photo at http://artfair.aadl.org/gallery/pictureAnnArbor/a2signs/newimages/a2signs_1195.jpg.html). I remember buying (and still own) a small celluloid vial of little augite crystals, from Norway, if memory serves.

Sadly, I dropped out of U-M (what can I say, it was the 60s) and lived away from Ann Arbor for two years; Martin’s was gone when I returned. Later I found it out in the sticks at a mall, but the ambiance was not the same, as they were making most of their sales to a

clientele not composed of geology students and scholars.

Back in school, I enrolled in an Intro to Mineralogy class at the University, taught by the formidable Prof. Donald R. Peacor, later editor of The American Mineralogist and discoverer or co-discoverer of dozens, maybe hundreds, of minerals. We went on a field trip that was my first collecting experience at a top mineral locality, the well-known quarry in the hamlet of Maybee, Michigan. I impressed Dr. Peacor by carrying a 75-pound boulder with a vug of celestine crystals all the way across the quarry to the car. Despite being the only non-geology major in the class, I was also the only mineral collector. I earned an A in the class, good for lots of street cred in mineralogical circles.

After that, I started getting interested in another type of rock – the kind with picks for guitars instead of rocks. Although I still looked for specimens when I could, life intervened and my boyhood collection languished at our cottage in northern Michigan, eventually exiled to the back lot to be covered by fallen leaves and poison ivy.

Next month: Head North and Keep Turning Left

Here are events located in NM, TX, OK, CO, UT and AZ for the near future.

You can see a more comprehensive list at: www.rockngem.com/showdates

The show is held in the beautiful historic courtyard of the Palace and centrally located on Santa Fe’s downtown Plaza on Palace Avenue.

The show educates, promotes, displays and makes available quality, all natural, gems and minerals of interest to artisans, jewelers, collectors and the general public. Visitors will be admitted at no charge.

Where: Historic Courtyard Palace of the Governors, 113 Lincoln Ave, Santa Fe.

Times: The event is open to the public 9 am to 7 pm on Friday, Sept. 23, 9 am to 4:30 pm on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 24-25.

Richard Kocurek 'Gemstone Inclusions: The Rare, Unusual and Surreal' 2pm Friday

Joe Dan Lowry 'The History of Turquoise throughout the World' 11 am Saturday

Joan Mathien "The Role of Gems and Minerals in the Pueblo World" 2pm Saturday

Sandy Craig 'Opal Cutting and Polishing Demonstration' 1pm Saturday & 1 pm Sunday

Garrick Beck 'Fakery in Gemstones' 11 am Sunday

Margot Guerrero 'The Metaphysical Uses of Mineral Pigments for Artists & Collectors' 2pm Sunday

For more information please contact Inessa Williams at 1-505-476-5106 or Email Inessa.williams@state.nm.us

8-9—TEMPLE, TX: Annual show; Tri-City Gem & Mineral Society; Mayborn Convention Center, 3303 N. 3rd St.; Sat. 9-6, Sun. 10-5; adults $3; silent auctions, raffles, door prizes, grand prize, demonstrations, dealers, rough, slabs, cabs, faceted gems, equipment, finished jewelry; contact Chip Burnette, 2630 Polk St., Killeen, TX 76543, (254) 630-3573; e-mail: burnette@aceweb.com

8-9—FORT WORTH, TX: Annual show; LMRA Stone Steppers; Lockheed Martin Recreation Association, 3400 Bryant Irvin Rd.; Sat. 9-6, Sun. 9-6; free admission; rocks, gems, minerals, flinters, prospecting equipment, GPAA, jewelry, pottery, stained glass, children’s activities; contact Steve Shearin, 860 Stafford Station Dr., Saginaw, TX 76131, (817) 733-5368; e-mail: steve.l.shearin@lmco.com

15-16—GRAND JUNCTION, CO: 64th annual show; Grand Junction Gem & Mineral Club; Two Rivers Convention Center, 1st and Main; Sat. 9-6, Sun. 10-5; adults $3, children 12 and under free with parent; dealers, demonstrations, children’s corner, special attractions; contact Wayne McMackin, 191 Lumley, Grand Junction, CO 81503, (970) 640-9271; e-mail: wmcmackin@msn.com; Web site: www.grandjunctionrockclub.org

15-16— SEDONA, AZ: Annual show; Sedona Gem & Mineral Club, Sedona Red Rock High School, 995 Upper Red Rock Loop Rd.; Sat. 10-5, Sun. 10-4; free admission; more than 40 dealers, Kids’ Corner, guest speakers, slide shows, raffles, grand prize; contact: Gayle Macklin, PO Box 21222, Sedona, AZ 86341, (520) 921-0100; e-mail: gayleis@gmail.com; Web site: www.sedonagemandmineral.org

21-23—AUSTIN, TX: Annual show, "Gold"; Austin Gem & Mineral Society; Palmer Events Center, 900 Barton Springs Rd.; Fri. 9-5, Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-5; more than 30 dealers, jewelry, beads, gems, minerals, crystals, fossils, spheres, equipment, exhibits, touch table, fluorescent minerals, member collections, silent auction, demonstrations, faceting, cabbing, fossil cleaning, polymer clay, "Youth Education Day" Fri., Gem Mine, Wheel of Fortune, Jewelry Making, door prizes, grand prize; contact Susan Postlethwait, 6719 Burnet Ln., Austin, TX 78757, (512) 458-9546; e-mail: showchariman@austingemandmineral.org; Web site: www.gemcapers.com

A few folks emailed me that they read the Mystery Mineral and try to decipher the mineral names. Email me at paulhlava@q.com and let me know your guesses by copying the Questions below and answering them. This includes AGMC members and everyone else who reads News Nuggets. I have gotten very few responses, folks. EMAIL me at paulhlava@q.com! I have been gratified by folks responding that they WORK at these minerals. Good, that IS the idea. This way you learn about them.

The Game Plan – I will describe a mineral and you have to guess/decipher/research the name of the mineral and the answers to the other questions asked about uses, history, notable facts, etc. I expect the Top Guns in the club to be able to guess the name off the top of their heads. The learners will need a reference book or two. You will benefit most if you do not ask others for the answers but work it out for yourselves. When you have decided on the name you can compare notes with others or wait for the answers to be announced at the meetings or published in the News Nuggets. Good luck and have fun.

Last year I discussed minerals found in the Hansonburg District of NM. This year I’ll work on minerals from the Harding (pegmatite) Mine and area.

This month’s MM is a very rare monoclinic silicate with 2 unusual (pegmatite) elements and it is even rarer than last month's mineral. It can be found as nice crystals in pegmatites but is commonly found as pseudo-hexagonal, platy crystals in amphibolite or mica schist matrix near pegmatites. It exhibits perfect cleavage in one direction (it is one of the "brittle micas"). It is transparent to translucent with a vitreous luster. The color is brownish-white, colorless,

yellow, pearly white. It has a white streak. Sp. Gr. = 3.0, H = 5.5. Harding material fluoresces greenish.

What is the name of the mineral?

What is the origin of the name?

What metals does it contain?

What non-metals does it contain?

What is the name of the other end of the series?

What rare metal does it contain?

What elements are more abundant in the black grains at the Harding?

What other minerals might occur with it?

What is it mined and used for?

Do you have some in your collection?

What is the name of the mineral? Holmquistite

What is the origin of the name? For Per Johan Holmquist (1866-1946), petrologist from Stockholm, Sweden

Where is the type locality (place where first found)? Sweden

What metals does it contain? Lithium (Li), magnesium (Mg), aluminum (Al), and silicon (Si)

What metals (not in formula!) give it its color. Iron (Fe) and/or manganese (Mn)

What non-metals does it contain? Oxygen (O) and hydrogen (H)

What other minerals might occur with it? Quartz, feldspars, hornblende, actinolite, micas, Li minerals, etc.

What other mineral might it easily be confused with? Glaucophane in blue-schist metamorphic facies rocks.

What is it mined and used for? Mineral specimens only

Do you have some in your collection? Yes

List some famous localities

In NM – Harding

In the USA – ME, NC, SD,

In the World – Sweden, Australia, Austria, China, Brazil, Russia

The Albuquerque Gem & Mineral Club was organized on January 22, 1944. The club is a non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement and enjoyment of the Earth Sciences and associated subjects. Its primary purpose is the exchange of information and the furtherance of knowledge of Mineralogy, Fossils, Geology, Rock Cutting and Gem Faceting and to stimulate interest in the development of these studies.

All meetings are held at the NM Museum of Natural History, Albuquerque, NM. The general meeting is held on the 4^th Monday of the month (unless otherwise announced) at 7:30 p.m. The Junior Club meets at 6:30 p.m. prior to the general meeting. The public is welcome at both meetings.

Board of Directors meetings are held at 6:30 p.m. on the first Monday of each month. All club members are welcome.

All memberships are family memberships and include all members of the household. Dues are $20. Send checks to the AGMC, P.O. Box 13718, Albuquerque, NM 87192-3718 or pay the Membership Chair at the monthly meeting. All memberships expire Dec. 31.

The Club Newsletter: News Nuggets exists to assist the membership in communications and to provide information on club activities. Contributions from all members are welcome for any information that will promote club activities or that would be of interest to club members. News Nuggets is scheduled to be sent approximately one week prior to the monthly meeting, earlier if possible.

You are invited to send news, articles or comments to Bill Barr at wbarr@umich.edu. Please begin the subject line with AGMC.

Instructions for entering the Members' Page are provided in the new member packet.

Treasurer: el.chivo.viejo@earthlink.net

klawicki@gmail.com

Note: If you feel you have been put on or left off this list in error, please contact Bill Barr.